Plant Advice I Wish I Knew Earlier
Hello planty (and non-planty) people! This site has become a place for travel recommendations, recipes, personal finance advice, and now plant care tips, and I ain’t mad about it. After all, plants clean the air and give us something beautiful to look at, so I count that as self-care in my book. My collection (read: hoarding) rate has slowed a bit since I’m running out of space, so the only solution is more shelves! Current houseplant count: 45 and still growing.
March 2021 update: Apparently, plants don’t purify the air as efficiently as we thought. The NASA study that spurred the “plants clean the air” line of thinking was conducted by housing plants in a closed test chamber, injecting chemicals, then measuring their level after 24 hours. I don’t know about you, but I don’t live in an enclosed dome.
I’ve been around plants since I was young (my mom bought geraniums from Home Depot and I never forgave my brother for forgetting to water my periwinkles when I was away at camp), but I dove headfirst into collecting tropicals in the fall of 2019. It started with a rattlesnake calathea and monstera deliciosa from The Sill during their Black Friday sale (more recs for places to buy online at the end of the article), and I haven’t looked back since. After acquiring so many plants—from trades, online orders, and in-store purchases—I’ve picked up a few tips that I’d love to share so you don’t make the same mistake as me. After all, we’re a community and we’ve got each other’s backs.
This post does NOT have affiliate links, except where noted at the end.
What I Wish I KNEW Before Starting My Plant Obsession:
ALWAYS take picture of a shipped plant once you get it within the first 6 hours, especially during its unboxing. Document the leaves, the soil, and the roots—yup, wiggle the plant out of the pot to check the roots even if you don’t want to add to the shipping stress of the plant. My $400 Monstera Thai constellation got root rot 11 days after it arrived and I didn’t have a “Before” photo to show what the roots looked like when I got the plant. You should take photos of the box too; licensed nurseries and resellers should’ve stamped an emblem with their license number and association with their state of origin. Internationally shipped plants should come with a phytosanitary certificate (check before you order, as you cannot order one retroactively).
ALWAYS quarantine a new plant for 1-2 weeks in case it has pests or a disease. This means inspecting it closely for any moving dots (bugs) or irregular coloring and keeping it in a corner away from your existing collection—still make sure it gets adequate light though. You don’t want the rest of your plant collection to catch whatever the new plant has and suffer. Spider mites, mealy bugs, and thrips are common pests that can be annoying to treat, and mosaic virus is a devastating disease that’s incurable. Even plants that seem harmless day of arrival may be housing eggs or larvae in undetected nooks between stems and leaves.
ALWAYS look up whether a plant you’re gonna get is safe for pets. Some toxic plants you can keep if you don’t have a curious pet that nibbles, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Planning to get a pet in the future? Donate / give away / sell your toxic plants beforehand, or elevate them out of reach via shelves and hanging baskets. Learn what toxic plants and trees are around your neighborhood as well, in case you’re outdoors with your pet. For example, all parts of a sago palm are deathly toxic to cats and dogs, especially seeds that may end up on a sidewalk.
It’s better to err on the side of watering too infrequently than too much/too frequently. Plants bounce back much easier from being thirsty than they do from rotted roots that drowned in soil that was watered too often. Personal experience😢 Some plants prefer their soil to dry out 100% before watering (e.g. succulents, cacti, monsteras), while others prefer moist soil (e.g. begonias, calatheas, philodendrons, palms, birds of paradise), and some plants are in-between. Just because a plant prefers moist soil doesn’t mean it should be wet to the touch 24/7, though. There’s a difference between soggy vs appropriately damp.
The best way to check whether it’s time to water your plant is to use a moisture meter (unaffiliated link to shop moisture meters), which is a device with two long prongs that measure the electrical conductivity of your soil; the higher the conductivity, the “wetter” it registers. They cost ~$15 and are worth every penny. If you don’t have a moisture meter, you can use a chopstick stuck into the soil for 5 minutes; if you pull it out and clumps of dirt are still stuck to it, it’s not yet time to water. Even plants that prefer moist soil can be overwatered if you water too soon.
Opt for coco coir instead of peat moss if you’re making your own potting mix. Peat moss is used for its water-retaining properties in potting mixes, but due to its popularity in gardening, it’s being harvested from boglands faster than it can regrow. Coco coir, from ground coconut shells, is a perfectly interchangeable, readily renewable soil amendment that similarly aerates and add moisture-retaining properties (source: Washington State University). Coco husk, the chunkier form of coir, is a popular main ingredient in potting mixes for aroids and other plants that enjoy large pockets of air among their roots. For recipes to DIY your own potting mix, check out Cornell Farms,
Even if your pot has drainage holes on the bottom, hold it at an angle once you’ve watered the soil thoroughly. You’ll see more water drain out, due to the “perched water table” effect—think of how a soaked sponge will drip more water when you stand it on its side. The idea is to always water your plants thoroughly until excess water drains out (you don’t have to measure how much water you give a plant), and then tip out any excess water. This way you can ensure that the entire root ball is saturated and all the roots get some moisture while being able to dry out after.
Another watering tip: some plants, especially ones sensitive to overwatering, like to be watered from the bottom up. This means putting the plant pot with drainage holes in a deep saucer filled with water (I use a round takeout container), and letting the water be absorbed by the roots via capillary action (throwback to 6th grade bio) for 30 min - 1 hour. The plant is less likely to be overwatered this way because the roots take up what they need. Otherwise, for your less finicky plants, you can water by pouring water from above, avoiding the leaves. It’s okay if you take a nap and forget about your plants in the water for a few hours. I’ve done that—just tilt em on their side to let excess drip out and place on a dry saucer.
Morning direct sun is weaker than afternoon direct sun. North-facing windows let in the softest/least light, then east, then west, then south-facing are the sunniest. If you’re not sure which direction your windows face, stand where the window is, pull up a compass app, and see which way the compass points north. Here’s a handy guide about what “bright indirect” vs “medium” vs “low” light requirements mean.
Example of what kind of light a north-facing window gets. Some plants like direct light, some like bright indirect, and some plants can tolerate low light (but will grow faster if given more light). Diagram by Leon and George
I tried to get rid of fungus gnats by watering my plants with a dilute mixture of dish detergent, hydrogen peroxide, and water, but I found that using Bonide’s systemic insecticide granules ($8 for a large bottle) sprinkled into the soil was the most effective solution, plus it works on other bugs including mealybugs and thrips (but not spider mites, unfortunately). The plants absorb the active ingredients through their roots once watered and become poisonous to pests. Fungus gnats are harmless because they don’t prey on your plants, but they will fly into any open container, including your glass of OJ, so they’re a nuisance.
“String of things” plants (e.g. string of hearts, string of pearls, string of dolphins, string of bananas) seem to be troublesome for some folks to keep alive. The trick is to give them bright light (e.g. hanging in front of a window is good) and water only when the “leaves” are a bit wrinkled and soft when you squeeze them. To keep “string of things” plants from balding on top as they trail down, make sure enough light reaches them on top. Install an artificial grow light that shines on the top of the pot if you have to.
(left to right) String of pearls, string of turtles, string of hearts, and burro’s tail sedum. Photo by Leaf and Paw
If your succulent is growing stretchy or "leggy" (the fancy name for it is "etioliation"), where there’s extra space between leaves on the stem, that means it's not getting enough light. Park the pot on a windowsill or outdoors in a place where it'll get direct sun. Weigh down the pot if you're worried about the wind blowing it over. You can cut the plant at the stem and propagate each individual leaf in the middle, and each new succulent will grow tightly clustered like normal. Etiolation cannot be reversed unfortunately, so stretched plants need to be trimmed if you don’t like the tall look.
If you’re paying for a plant on PayPal, ALWAYS choose Goods & Services invoice, not “Friends & Family”. G&S offers both the seller & buyer protection. That’s why the seller loses 3% of the sale to PayPal, as a fee. There’s no fee for sending money via the “Friends & Family” option, and thus, no protection.
When you cut a leaf or stem off to propagate, let the cut part air-dry for a couple hours (even half a day is fine if you forget about it) so that the cross-section doesn’t rot when you place it in your rooting medium of choice. Rooting in water seems to be the most popular way to root a plant, since you can see the roots’ progress without touching the plant if you use a clear jar. Your plant will lose some leaves as it uses up energy trying to grow roots—that’s normal. You don’t need to add anything extra to the water for cuttings, but I like to dip my cuttings in rooting hormone powder to help the plant along before I pop them in water or soil.
Water roots aren’t the same as soil roots, so you’ll want to plant your cutting in soil as soon as it’s got 1-2 inches of water roots, depending on the size of the cutting. Otherwise, the plant will have a tough time transitioning to soil if it’s grown too long in water. If you plan to transition an established plant with soil roots to a semi-hydroponic medium, be sure to wash off the soil very well, as any remnants become mud and can rot the roots.
To get an idea of what a good price for a specific plant is, shop around on Etsy and search Facebook groups for “plant name"“ to see how much it’s usually listed for. Some sellers are cheaper than others, and it all depends on how much they paid for the plant in the first place and whether they’re nice enough to not mark it up too much. Buying a rooted plant is usually safer for beginners than buying an unrooted cutting, but unrooted cuttings are typically cheaper. Keep in mind the origin of the seller and how far you (the final destination) are. Some vendors do not ship internationally, due to long shipping times and the very real risk of border security heat-treating your package.
Calatheas, begonias, alocasias, and some rarer plants (e.g. anthurium crystallinum) are picky and need extra humidity. Sometimes a pebble tray set below the pot is enough (the water level should come halfway up the pebbles), but sometimes a humidifier or desktop greenhouse is necessary. Closed containers need air circulation or you’ll grow mold, so open the lid/door once a day or have a fan going. The bigger the humidifer, the less often you need to refill it, but the bulkier it is. I have a 2-liter humidifier that gets refilled once a day at 50% output. Some fancier ones monitor the ambient air and can be set to a specific % humidity, like a thermostat.
Fern sitting atop a pebble tray filled with water for extra humidity. Photo by field notes by studio plants
Desktop greenhouse made from wooden dowels and overhead project sheets. Photo by dossierblog
If you wanna keep plants inside pretty decor pots that don’t have drainage, keep the plant inside its plastic nursery/grow pot with drainage holes and put the whole plastic pot within the outer pot. When you water, water thoroughly and tip out the excess water sitting in the outer pot. Bonus: you can change outer pots whenever you want without repotting.
I’m saving up to buy a foldable, waterproof potting tarp, so until then, I do my messy repotting inside a shallow cardboard box. After I’m done, I pour the spilled soil back into the bag.
Red spots on an emerging baby fiddle leaf fig leaf is normal; it's called oedema and will go away with more consistent watering as the leaf matures. It happens when thirsty leaf cells absorb too much water at once and burst. New fiddle leaf fig tree leaves are a lighter green that the rest of the plant.
Red splotches on the baby leaf are a sign of oedema/edema. They will go away as the leaf matures with consistent watering. Photo by Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant Resource
Don’t repot and fertilize your plants on the same day. Repotting disturbs the delicate microsopic roots that bring nutrients for the rest of the plant. By fertilizing on the same day, you risk burning the root tips, because the chemical salts in the fertilizer cause osmotic stress and dry out the roots. This is why forums recommend watering with your diluted liquid fertilizer of choice after an initial soak of regular water (think of how people rinse themselves before entering a pool so their hair doesn’t absorb too much chlorinated water). If you’re using physical fertilizer pellets, water as normal.
Check your plants every 6 months to ensure they’re not overly rootbound. When your plant is ready for an upgrade, don’t go more than 2” wider than the current pot size; if the pot is too big, there’s too much soil that stays wet and that increases the risk of root rot. More on choosing the right pot size at Bioadvanced.com.
The differences between kinds of variegated monstera cultivars: albo monsteras have unstable green + white variegation, Thai constellation monsteras have stable green + cream speckled variegation. Aureas are green + yellow variegation and mints are green + light green.
HELPFUL VIDEO DUMP
I prefer to read articles and watch Instagram videos, but I’ve watched a handful of Youtube videos that I’m sharing below from Jimmy (@legendsofmonstera), Kaylee Ellen (@kayleeellenofficial). They are plant gods and goddesses.
BUYING PLANTS ONLINE
While I try to avoid ordering online because the loose dirt and crumpled leaves are messy + you pay extra for shipping + you don’t know exactly what you’ll get because photos can be deceiving, I do recommend browsing online to write down what you like since sites often have filters for your needs, like level of light/ maintenance/ pet-friendliness.
15 % off at Jordan’s Jungle with my referral link
Jordan’s is by far my favorite plant shop. Reasonable prices, a huge variety, SMS text alerts for restocks, specials every day, a loyalty program with significant discounts, and free curbside pickup if you drive to their shop in Pawtucket, RI near Providence.
10% off at The Sill with my referral link
My $30 8 inch monstera and $20 4inch calathea rattlesnake are from The Sill.
Bloomscape.com no referral link
Their plants ship with containers and make great gifts, but their price point is a bit high, IMO.
Some of my favorite plant-grammers to follow, in terms of helpfulness and/or entertainment:
As always, I’m @_plantedparenthood if you want to DM me with any questions. Happy planting!